Tenn senator: Holocaust remark not meant to offend

Published: Tuesday, May 6, 2014 10:50 a.m. CST

Caption

(Erik Schelzig)

FILE - In this May 16, 2013, file photo, Republican state Sen. Stacey Campfield of Knoxville speaks at a Senate subcommittee hearing in Nashville, Tenn. Campfield was criticized by leaders of both the Republican and Democratic parties in Tennessee on Monday, May 5, 2014, for writing a blog post likening the insurance requirement under President Barack Obama's health care law to the forced deportation of Jews during the Holocaust. (AP Photo/Erik Schelzig, File)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A Tennessee state Senator says his comparison of the federal health care law to the forced transportation of Jews to concentration camps during the Holocaust was not meant to offend.

Republican state Sen. Stacey Campfield of Knoxville in a post on his blog on Monday likened Democrats' boasting of the number of people who have signed up for insurance required under President Barack Obama's health care law to Nazis doing the same for what he called mandatory "train rides" for Jews in the 1940s.

Campfield's remark drew swift condemnation from both Republican and Democratic leaders in the state.

Campfield later on Monday expressed "regret that some people miss the point of my post. It was not to offend. It was to warn."

Campfield faces both primary and general election challengers this year.